There are a number of issues and debates surrounding notions of citizenship, including how civil society prepares its population or particular sub-populations for engaged democratic participation. This is further complicated by diverse views about individual and national identities, immigration, and policies and debates of accommodation versus assimilation. As globalization continues to blur individual, institutional and national boundaries, there are calls from and to multiple sectors to articulate productive methods for achieving the ideals of democracy and social cohesion.

This text is intended to contemplate the role and methods of post-secondary/tertiary sector educational institutions in preparing citizens for meaningful participation in democracies, whether long-standing, young or emerging. We expect to organize the text in four sections, the first of which contains conceptual frameworks and methods for citizenship education; and each of the other three corresponding with regional issues and practices in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and North America. We are interested in how post-secondary/tertiary sector institutions are implicated in, but not necessarily leading efforts. As such, chapters may focus on particular approaches within a college or university, or may discuss how the efforts or issues of a different sector (e.g. schools, NGOs, businesses, governments, communities) hold implications for colleges and universities.

This interdisciplinary English-language text is being developed for use within graduate and professional degree programs whose graduates will become the next generation of those tasked with building, strengthening and/or maintaining the institutions and ideals underpinning democratic societies. As well, the text must be accessible as a useful reference for leaders and policy makers. Individual chapters are anticipated to be 6000-8000 words.

Interested contributors are encouraged to inquire with questions. Proposals of 1-3 pages should be sent via email attachment (in Microsoft Word or PDF), in English containing a draft title, abstract, and outline; along with a current CV or résumé to jason.laker@queensu.ca by Tuesday, March 1st, 2010.

The ASN Convention, the most attended international and inter-disciplinary scholarly gathering of its kind, welcomes proposals on a wide range of topics related to nationalism, ethnicity, ethnic conflict and national identity in Central Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, the Caucasus, the Turkic world, and Central Eurasia. The Convention also invites proposals devoted to comparative perspectives on nationalism-related issues in other regions of the world, as well as theoretical approaches that need not be grounded in any particular geographic region. The Convention is inviting paper, panel, roundtable, or special presentation proposals for three special thematic sidebars: “History, Politics and Memory”; “Interpretive and Cognitive Approaches in Ethnography”; and “The Resurgence of Russia: Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications”.

There is no application form necessary to send proposals to the convention, but a fact sheet is required. To obtain the fact sheet and to read further proposal requirements, please see the “Call for Papers” at www.nationalities.org. All proposals and fact sheets must be sent by email to Dominique Arel at both darel@uottawa.ca and darelasn2010@gmail.com by November 4.